Where Is The Lower LED Ring?

I get this question so often that I thought I should address it in its own post. I'll start by saying that I have no inside information from The Garden or the Rangers, but here are my thoughts on the scoreboard.

It has come to the attention of many fans who have watched the three year transformation project unfold, that the scoreboard dose not match the renderings that were drawn up. While the concept of the scoreboard seems to follow the guidelines set by the renderings, whether they were supposed to or not, the board did turn out quite different. My gut tells me that the renderings were only to be a general idea of what the new scoreboard might look like. The renderings were drawn up nearly four years ago, and in that time there have been big changes in the scoreboard industry. At the time of the drawings, Carolina and Dallas were probably unveiling their new scoreboards. The latter was the most state of the art scoreboard in the league at the time. Who would have predicted at that time that we would have a scaled down version of the Cowboys Stadium scoreboard in an NHL arena. Obviously that style would be all wrong for MSG.

Top left photo from @StacyAlbano

Several years later, they opted for a few changes that included a much more rounded structure. Even the main video screens are in a somewhat circular setup. As for the lower ring... well it would block the view of a very important new aspect of the new scoreboard. There are four video screens inside the scoreboard to accommodate fans who are seated court-side or rink-side. They clearly took a lesson from Staples Center and the size of their board.  Below is a photo of how big the scoreboard is compared to the basketball floor.


While Staples Center still got away with a lower ring, The Garden doesn't have the same luxury of a great deal of working height, especially in the center portion of the arena. The current setup takes up a bit less vertical space, and the video board can be raised up inside the upper ring for minimal exposure during events where it is not needed.

What are your thoughts on the new scoreboard? Comment below...